Under California law, you can be arrested and convicted of a DUI offense even if you exhibited no signs of impairment and did not feel inebriated. This is due to what is known as the state’s per se DUI statute, Vehicle Code 23152(b), which reads:

“It is unlawful for any person who has 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a vehicle.”

While it may be true that the only, 100 percent way to guarantee you are not over the legal limit when you drive is to abstain from alcohol consumption, it is not illegal to drink and drive.

Basic Considerations

Absorption is the movement of alcohol into the blood. Distribution may be said to be the transfer of alcohol through various body tissues, and elimination is the removal of alcohol from the body. Your blood alcohol content or BAC is essentially a measure of the difference between absorption and elimination.

Alcohol is absorbed through the stomach and small intestine, and most is eliminated through excretion and metabolic functions. Small amounts of alcohol leave through breath, which allows for the use of breathalyzers to detect alcohol consumption.

Typical Absorption Patterns

Generally speaking, the higher the concentration of alcohol in the beverage being consumed and the less full the stomach is, the higher the absorption rate. For normal social drinking, this translates to the highest BAC most often found 30 to 60 minutes after consumption is completed. However, if significant quantities of alcohol are consumed or large amounts of food are ingested, the absorption phase may not be completed and consequently the maximum BAC may not be reached for up to two hours.

Factors that Affect BAC

An awareness of how much you are drinking and when you stop are important, but other factors can impact your BAC, such as:

• Gender
• Weight and body type
• Mood
• Alcohol tolerance

 Elimination

In contrast, although there are some variations in elimination rates among the population, each individual has a very consistent rate. Many scientific tests have concluded that an average rate is 0.16 percent per hour, which does not vary based on the type of alcohol consumed or how much. Thus, once you reach a certain BAC, only the passage of time will lower the alcohol level in your body. Contrary to some claims, there is no quick way to sober up.

The bottom line is that is extremely difficult to predict with any accuracy your BAC. If you have been charged with a DUI offense, a Los Angeles DUI attorney can help explain the how BAC evidence can be challenged.